


Psychosomatic

by whichstiel



Series: Season 13 Codas [11]
Category: Supernatural, Wayward Sisters (TV)
Genre: Dreamwalking, Episode: s13e10 Wayward Sisters, Gen, The Bad Place, Wayward Sisters, spn 13x10
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-20
Updated: 2018-01-20
Packaged: 2019-03-07 02:33:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13424865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whichstiel/pseuds/whichstiel
Summary: Kaia and the other Kaia have a chat.





	Psychosomatic

The lizard skittered over the rim of the boulders which formed a natural wall around the mouth of the old bunker. The creature was the color of a moss rolled stone, only visible in the odd half light of the world by virtue of its own movement as it wove towards the other woman in the small enclosure.

Kaia tensed, readying herself for the swift, brutal violence she had come to expect from her counterpart in the Bad Place. Instead, the woman reached into a hidden fold of her leather-like armor and then held out her hand with something pinched in it. The lizard leaped into the air, exposing a sudden burst of glorious color as hidden folds around the lizard’s legs expanded into brightly colored sails. It jumped as high as the other woman’s hand and as it fell back away, cushioned by its macaw-bright folds, it held something small and purple clamped in its mouth. As soon as the lizard landed it snapped the little berry in its mouth and whipped the colorful skin back around its otherwise entirely camouflaged legs. The creature gave one high chirp and then skittered back up the boulders and out of sight.

Kaia began to laugh. “Oh my god,” she said. “Oh god! You have pets. I did not expect that.”

Her alternate self turned towards Kaia, pursed lips just visible under the hood. “I do not,” she said slowly, “have pets.” The disdain in her voice only made Kaia laugh harder and the other woman hissed between her teeth and turned away again. “You know,” she said in a voice like fog over an iced lake, “next time I could leave you to Them.”

Kaia stopped laughing as an unwelcome shiver stole over her. _Them._ The nightmare creatures with the horrifyingly inhuman mandibles hunted her every time she crossed the barriers into this world. It was only through her other self’s intervention that she wasn’t torn to ribbons on a monthly basis. “If you think I’m going to thank you, then you’ve—”

It was the warrior’s turn to laugh. “You’re me and I’m you,” she said, throwing an assortment of sunset hued root vegetables into a squat kettle. “Whyever would you think I’d expect gratitude? You’ve told me often enough how this,” she gestured at the gloomy canopy above them, “is all my fault.”

“Me being here is all your fault, yes.” Kaia knew she was being petulant but really…all she wanted was one restful night of sleep without curling into a ball in the roots of a wet tree or fighting for her life next to her far more surly doppelgänger. “If you hadn’t started visiting me—”

“And now we’re back to this again.” Wet chunks of sea foam green meat fell into the kettle one by one. “I couldn't help visiting you when we were children and you know I didn’t want to stop. You’ve seen my life here. How can you blame me for wanting some escape? You used to love having a friend. Someone who understood your powers. Do remember that game we used to play? With the waterfalls?”

“Shoots and ladders,” Kaia corrected, knotting her arms around her waist.

“Shoots and ladders.” The woman sighed and laid her knife across the granite slab she used as a table. “It was nice…hearing you laugh again. I remember the day we first met you—” She shook her head and leaned both hands on the slab.

Kaia looked at the muddied tips of her shoes. “I remember too. You were so scared of the swingset. I thought that was so strange. What kind of kid’s never seen swings, right?”

“I thought I’d launch into the air if I only worked hard enough.”

“Every kid thinks that.” Kaia dropped one hand to the laces of her sneaker and ran a finger slowly over the crisscrossing pattern. Her ribs hurt - likely bruised from getting kicked into a tree. She could feel blood sticking her sweatshirt to the skin of her arm. It wasn’t her worst visit, but she’d ache for a few days and the arm would take a while to heal. She thought longingly of her bedroom with its open medical kit set out on the table next to the bed. What she wouldn’t give for a few butterfly bandages right now. “Whatever. Nobody prepares you for your imaginary friend to screw you over. You shouldn’t have taught me how to walk worlds.”

“You should have learned to control your powers. I did what you asked. I stopped visiting. It’s not my fault you still follow me here.” The other woman’s tone held no sharpness, only sorrow. Her shoulders hunched as she prepared her meal. Kaia watched her work, clutching the seams of her sweatshirt and straining to wake up back in her warm, safe bed.

Powers. Her other self wielded them as naturally as breathing. She talked to Kaia of other worlds, other lives led by other Kaias as though they were realities that lay just beyond her fingertips - an army of Kaias stretching across the elastic cosmos. Kaia sighed. She hadn’t been ready for this other world. Sooner or later her powers would consume her as readily as the giant that stalked this nightmare forest.

Kaia tilted her head towards the sky and…oh yes. She could hear it now. The low, pleased moan of the sated giant caressed its way through the trees. “Will I see you tomorrow?” Kaia asked.

“I rounded them all up for Tiny. Shouldn’t be more through here for a while. Maybe a few weeks of peace.” She was quiet for a moment as she vigorously cleaned the gore from her blade. “As long as you're safe, I’ll stay away from you. I promise.”

Kaia nodded miserably and perched her chin on her knees. "Fine. Then I'll see you in--"

Suddenly the world dissolved around her like a shimmering mirage. She woke sweating in her bed with the familiar smell of copper stinging her nose. Kaia struggled upright, clutching at her injured arm and curling into a painful ball. Kaia gasped against her knees until she no longer felt the urge to vomit. She was awake. She was safe. “I'll see you in a few weeks,” she whispered into her quiet bedroom.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I'm on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/whichstiel) and [Tumblr](http://whichstiel.tumblr.com/) @ whichstiel. You may also like the Supernatural recap and gif blog I co-write/curate, [Shirtless Sammy](https://shirtlesssammy.tumblr.com/).


End file.
